The present invention relates to filing cabinets. More particularly, it pertains to lateral shelf filing cabinets having doors for each compartment of the cabinet, where the doors can seal the particular compartment, recess to allow access to the compartment, or lock in a horizontal and extended position to function as a posting shelf.
Lateral shelf filing cabinets incorporate a number of compartments that each include a movable door. In existing designs, the door may be positioned to seal access to the compartment, or may be recessed within the compartment to permit access to the contents of the compartment.
It was found to be desirable to have a work space in or near the filing cabinet. As a result, posting shelves were included between the compartments of the cabinet. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 631,312, to F. Macey. Unfortunately though, separate shelves of this type had several drawbacks. The shelves increased the vertical height of the cabinet and decreased the overall storage efficiency of the cabinet. Also, cabinets incorporating separate shelves were generally more time consuming and expensive to manufacture.
To address these disadvantages associated with separate shelves, a cabinet was developed having doors that could also function as posting shelves. As is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,537,452 to T. E. Rice et al., the doors of this cabinet could be closed, recessed, or locked in a horizontal and extended position using spring-loaded support brackets mounted on the back sides of the doors. This design allowed each of the doors to function as a posting shelf, without increasing the height of the cabinet or sacrificing the storage efficiency of the cabinet. There are, however, significant drawbacks associated with this design. The user must manually position the brackets against the sides of the cabinet for the door to function as a shelf. This presents a serious problem when the user requires the posting shelf in order to unload articles, especially because both brackets must be adjusted simultaneously. Furthermore, there is potential for the support brackets to contact the user as the brackets spring back against the door.
It can therefore be seen that a need exists for an improved cabinet having a door that can assume a closed position, a recessed position, or a posting shelf position. It would be especially desirable for the user of the cabinet to be able to position the door in the posting shelf position by simply moving the door.